Figure 10
A diagram illustrates a potential mechanism underlying the enhancement of GABAergic synaptic transmission, the improvement of synchronous activities of amygdala neurons as well as the attenuation of anxiety-like behavior in DBA/2 mice by DHPG, an agonist of metabotropic glutamate receptor. Left column shows the influence of mGluR activation on GABAergic synaptic transmission (bottom panel), compared to control (top). DHPG elevates intracellular Ca2+ and enhances GABA release by activating mGluR1,5. Middle column illustrates that activity synchrony among amygdala neurons is improved when GABAergic synapses are enhanced by DHPG. Compared with top panel, temporal activity in amygdala neurons (bottom) in the presence of DHPG tends toward synchrony in time scale. Right column illustrates that anxiety-like movement routes on an elevated plus-maze in DBA/2 mice (top panel) are improved by DHPG (bottom).